Some people say they're big picture people while others are just detail people. That's all fine and well but unless you have something deep driving you, you're only going to skim the surface of life. And I think that's why we have a lot of the problems that we see today, because we're just touching the surface of what it means to be human and we take our direction from the mob.
Deep calls unto deep isn't a suggestion- it's a statement. We miss this a lot when we skim social media, silently comparing our bodies, our art and our satisfaction to the other people skimming us on another screen. We barely stop long enough to breathe, like we're afraid stopping the madness means we'll drown, like rushing through life will get us there, that elusive somewhere promised to us by everyone else chasing a best-guess.
It's reflected in our culture and in our art. There's a lot of talk about living but not enough about the deep unto deep. Not enough about the drive, the purpose, the meaning. Not enough about our mortality. Not enough about the mystery. Living deep is hard because it means going below the surface, beneath the waves, where all we can hear is our own heartbeat and every other noise is drowned out. Where we face the primal questions.
Our acute failure to live from the deep can result in only one thing: shallow living. Hard questions get easy answers. Wrestling with the profound mysteries of life are reduced to 140-character manifestos, ambiguity and anger. We lose when we refuse to go on the journey- when we refuse to seek the answers. As a society we become a sea of imitation, moving from answer to answer.
So my encouragement is this: go deep. Don't settle for the easy answers. Go on the journey yourself. Discover the intention and truth behind your design and your breath. Then your vision and your acts of creation will speak of the deepest truest love. Your art will reflect both reason and revelation. Your life will no longer be imitation but inspiration to others to ask, seek and knock on their own.
Deep unto deep is the desperate final plunge into the abyss in search of truth. It's the longing of your soul calling out to God's heart and, when you can't seem to swim any deeper, finding your lungs filled with air rather than water.
“Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me”